Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. The event featured Duran Duran performing in Italy. Background The concerts were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 billion to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. Live Aid and Band Aid organiser Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May. Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Prior to the official announcement of the event many news sources referred to the event as Live Aid 2. However Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they don't think of the event as the same as Live Aid. Geldof said "This is not Live Aid 2. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison.". Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts. Organizers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the Live 8 call that politicians take action to "Make Poverty History" www.live8list.com. Names from the list also appeared on the giant televisions at each concert during the broadcast. Concerts There were ten concerts held on 2 July 2005, most of them simultaneously. The first to begin was held at the Makuhari Messe in Japan, with Rize being the first of all the Live 8 performers. During the opening of the Philadelphia concert, Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie (outside Toronto) in a synchronised finger click. This was to represent the death of a child every three seconds, due to poverty. Bob Geldof was at the event at Hyde Park in London, England and made numerous appearances on stage, including a performance of "I Don't Like Mondays". Special guests appeared throughout the concerts. Both Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Bill Gates made speeches at the London show and Nelson Mandela addressed the crowd in the South African venue. Guest presenters, ranging from sports stars to comedians, also introduced acts. Included in the line-up were Pink Floyd, reunited with former bassist/lyricist Roger Waters for the first time in over 24 years. The complete foursome had not performed together since a show at Earls Court in London on 17 June 1981. With the death of keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008, Live 8 became the final time the four members of the band's classic lineup of the late 1960s and 1970s performed together. The final event was held in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 July 2005 and went by the name Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit. DVD An official [[Live 8 (DVD)|''Live 8'' (DVD)]] set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally, 8 November 2005 in the United States. It was released almost a year to the day after the release of the DVD of Live Aid on 8 November 2004. Duran Duran at Live 8 Duran Duran appeared at the Circus Maximus in Rome (Italy), and performed the following songs: #"(Reach Up for The) Sunrise" #"Ordinary World" #"Save A Prayer" #"The Wild Boys" Simon Le Bon spoke after the concert and said "This maybe even be better than Live Aid". Tickets Although the concerts were free, 66,500 pairs of tickets for the Hyde Park concert were allocated from the 13 June 2005 to 15 June 2005, to winners of a mobile phone text message competition that began on Monday, 6 June 2005. Entry involved sending the answer to a multiple choice question via a text message costing £1.50. Winners were drawn at random from those correctly answering the question. Over two million messages were sent during the competition, raising £3m. Thus entrants had a roughly one-in-28 chance of winning a pair of tickets. The first £1.6m raised is to be given to the Prince's Trust, who in turn will donate to the Help A London Child charity. The Prince's Trust usually host the Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July. This event was cancelled in 2005 to make way for Live 8. The £1.6m donation will act as a quid pro quo. Funds raised beyond the £1.6m "will go to pay for the costs of Live 8, as it is a free event", according to the Live 8 website. Some ticket-winners immediately placed their tickets for sale on the Internet auction site eBay, and were heavily criticised by the organisers of the event, including Bob Geldof. Initially, eBay defended its decision to allow the auctions to go ahead, stating that there were no laws against their sale. It also promised to make a donation to Live 8 that would be "at least equal to any fees" it would be making for such sales. Many people, angered by others seemingly using Live 8 to make money, placed fake bids for millions of pounds for such auctions in an attempt to force the sellers to take them off sale. It was later announced that eBay, under pressure from the British government, the public, as well as Geldof himself, would withdraw all auctions of the tickets. Others have argued, though, that selling the tickets would not have done any harm to the people Live 8 is supposed to be helping and it would have allowed those who missed the random selection a chance to go to the concert. Similar touting situations arose for the Edinburgh and Canadian shows, and eBay halted sales of those tickets as well. In fact, the 35,000 free tickets for the Canadian show were all distributed in just 20 minutes on 23 June 2005, Ticketmaster reported. List of artists who performed in Barrie (north of Toronto, Canada) *African Guitar Summit *Barenaked Ladies *Blue Rodeo *Bruce Cockburn *Bryan Adams *Chuck Berry *Celine Dion (via satellite from Las Vegas) *Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green (hosts) *DMC *Deep Purple *DobaCaracol (featuring K'naan) *Gordon Lightfoot *Great Big Sea *Jann Arden *Jet *Les Trois Accords *Mötley Crüe *Neil Young (with Pegi Young) *Our Lady Peace *Randy Bachman *Sam Roberts *Simple Plan *Tom Cochrane *Tragically Hip (with Dan Aykroyd) List of artists who performed in Berlin (Germany) *a-ha *Sasha *Anne Will (host) *Audioslave *BAP *Brian Wilson *Chris de Burgh *Claudia Schiffer (presenter, also appeared in Edinburgh) *Daniel Powter *Die Toten Hosen *Faithless *Green Day *Herbert Grönemeyer (also appeared in Edinburgh) *Joana Zimmer *Juan Diego Flórez *Juli *Katherine Jenkins (also appeared in Edinburgh) *Michael Mittermeier (host) *Otto *Reamonn *Renee Olstead *Roxy Music *Silbermond *Söhne Mannheims *Wir sind Helden List of artists who performed in Cornwall (UK) *Akim El Sikameya *Angelina Jolie (presenter & Goodwill Ambassador) *Angelique Kidjo *Ayub Ogada *Ayub Ogada & Uno *Chartwell Dutiro *Coco Mbassi *Daara J *Dido (also appeared in London and Paris) *Emmanuel Jal *Frititi *Geoffrey Oryema *Kanda Bongo Man *Mariza *Maryam Mursal *Modou Diouf & O Fogum *Peter Gabriel & Johnny Kalsi (Hosts) *Shikisha *Siyaya *Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited *Tinariwen *Youssou N'Dour and Super Etoile de Dakar (also appeared in London, and Paris) List of artists who performed in Edinburgh (UK) *1 Giant Leap featuring Will Young, Maxi Jazz, Neneh Cherry, Geoffrey Oryema, and Mahotella Queens *Annie Lennox(also appeared in London) *Beverley Knight *Bob Geldof (also appeared in London) and Campino (from Die Toten Hosen who also appeared in Berlin) *Bono (presenter, also appeared with his band U2 at London) *Chris Evans *Claudia Schiffer (presenter, also appeared in Berlin) *Coumi Nidu (Action Against Poverty) *Davina McCall (presenter) *Eddie Izzard (presenter) *Embrace *Feeder *George Clooney (presenter) *Herbert Grönemeyer (also appeared in Berlin) *James Brown (featuring Will Young) *Jamie Cullum *Katherine Jenkins (also appeared in Berlin) *Lenny Henry (presenter, also appeared in London) *McFly (also appeared in Tokyo) *Midge Ure *Natasha Bedingfield *Nelson Mandela (prerecorded speech, also a host in Johannesburg) *Neneh Cherry *Peter Kay (presenter, also appeared in London) *Ronan Keating *Snow Patrol (also appeared in London) *Sugababes *Susan Sarandon (presenter) *Texas *The Corrs *The Proclaimers *The Thrills *Travis (also appeared in London) *Wangari Maathai (presenter) *Wet Wet Wet List of artists who performed in Johannesburg (South Africa) *4Peace Ensemble *Jabu Khanyile & Bawete *Lindiwe *Lucky Dube *Mahotella Queens *Malaika *Nelson Mandela (Host, also had prerecorded speech in Edinburgh) *Orchestra Baobab *Oumou Sangare *Vusi Mahlasela *Zola List of artists who performed in London (UK) *Annie Lennox(also appeared in Edinburgh) *Bill Gates (presenter) *Birhan Woldu (presenter) *Bob Geldof (Host, also performed in Edinburgh) *Brad Pitt (presenter) *Coldplay (with Richard Ashcroft) *David Beckham (presenter) *David Walliams and Matt Lucas (presenters) *Dawn French (presenter) *Dido (also appeared in Paris, and Cornwall) *Elton John *Joss Stone *Keane *Kofi Annan (presenter) *Lenny Henry (presenter, also appeared in Edinburgh) *Madonna *Mariah Carey (with the African Children's Choir) *Ms. Dynamite *Paul McCartney (with George Michael) *Pete Doherty *Peter Kay (presenter, also appeared in Edinburgh) *Pink Floyd (the first time in 24 years all four living members were on stage together) *R.E.M. *Razorlight *Ricky Gervais (presenter) *Robbie Williams *Scissor Sisters *Snoop Dogg *Snow Patrol (also appeared in Edinburgh) *Stereophonics *Sting *The Boomtown Rats *The Killers *The Who *Travis (also appeared in Edinburgh) *U2 *UB40 - (with Hunterz & The Dhol Blasters) *Velvet Revolver *Youssou N'Dour and Super Etoile de Dakar (also appeared in Cornwall and Paris) List of artists who performed in Moscow (Russia) *Agata Kristi *Alyona Sviridova *Bi-2 *Bravo *Dolphin *Garik Sukachev *Jungo *Linda *Moral Code X *Pet Shop Boys *Red Elvises *Spleen *Valery Syutkin List of artists who performed in Paris (France) *Alpha Blondy *Amel Bent *Andrea Bocelli with the Philarmonie der Nationen *Axelle Red *Calogero (with Passi) *Cerrone & Nile Rodgers *Craig David *David Hallyday *Diam's & Amel Bent *Dido (also appeared in London, and Cornwall) *Faudel *Florent Pagny (with Patricia Petitbon) *Kyo *Laurent Boyer (presenter) *Louis Bertignac *M pokora *Magic System *Muse *Passi *Placebo *Raphael *Shakira *Solidarite Sida (presenter) *The Cure *Tina Arena *Yannick Noah *Youssou N'Dour and Super Etoile de Dakar (also appeared in Cornwall and London) *Zucchero (also appeared in Rome) List of artists who performed in Philadelpia (USA) *Alicia Keys *Black Eyed Peas with Rita Marley and Stephen Marley *Black Ice *Bon Jovi *Chris Tucker (presenter) *Dave Matthews Band *Def Leppard *Destiny's Child *Dhani Jones with four other Philadelphia Eagles players (presenters) *DJ Green Lantern *Don Cheadle (presenter) *Jars of Clay *Jennifer Connelly (presenter) *Jimmy Smits (presenter) *Kaiser Chiefs *Kanye West *Keith Urban *Lemon *Linkin Park with Jay-Z *Maroon 5 *Naomi Watts (presenter) *Natalie Portman (presenter) *Richard Gere (presenter) *Rob Thomas *Sarah McLachlan - (with Josh Groban) *Stevie Wonder (with Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Rob Thomas) *Kami (presenter) *Toby Keith *Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff List of artists who performed in Rome (Italy) *Alex Britti *Antonello Venditti *Articolo 31 *Biagio Antonacci *Cesare Cremonini *Claudio Baglioni *Duran Duran *Elisa *Faith Hill *Fiorella Mannoia *Francesco De Gregori *Francesco Renga *Gemelli Diversi *Irene Grandi *Jane Alexander (Interstitial) *Jovanotti *Laura Pausini *Le Vibrazioni *Ligabue (with Jovanotti and Piero Pelù) *Mayor of Lampedusa (presenter) *Pagani & African Drum Collective *Max Pezzali *Meg *Negramaro *Negrita *Nek *Noa *L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio *Paola Cortellesi (presenter) *Piero Pelù *Pino Daniele *Planet Funk *Povia *Renato Zero *Ron *Stefano Senardi *Tim McGraw *Tiromancino *Velvet *Zucchero (also appeared in Paris) List of artists who performed in Tokyo (Japan) *Björk *Def Tech *Do As Infinity *Dreams Come True *Good Charlotte *McFly (also appeared in Edinburgh) *Rize Category:Concerts